Boettcher Foundation Announces First Cycle of 2026 Rural Catalyst Grant Recipients
DENVER, March 27, 2026—The Boettcher Foundation has released its first cycle of 2026 Rural Catalyst Grant recipients, awarding $97,500 in capacity-building grants to nonprofit organizations within the Rural Leaders Collaborative. These awards support rural organizations as they plan, convene partners, utilize short-term staffing, and build capacity through one-time operating costs.
“This was the most competitive cycle of Rural Catalyst Grant applications we have received since launching the program four years ago,” said Garrett Mayberry, grants program officer. “The high caliber of applications reflects communities working together to strengthen Colorado and create innovative solutions for affordable housing, education, economic development, inclusive placemaking, and more.”
Below is a summary of the organizations and projects awarded in this cycle:
- Burlington School District RE-6J: Supports an educator housing feasibility study and strategy development, including a housing demand survey, community engagement, and financial and demand analysis (Kit Carson).
- Creede School District: Funds a workforce housing needs assessment, feasibility modeling, and scenario analysis, along with community convening, to support a blueprint for funding district employee housing (Mineral).
- Keystone Policy CenterMontezuma-Cortez School District: Supports an adaptive reuse feasibility and housing capacity analysis for a vacant elementary school in Cortez, including coordinated stakeholder convenings and preparation of an implementation roadmap (Montezuma).
- Moffat Consolidated School District #2: Funds feasibility planning and financial modeling for a potential district-led housing initiative (Saguache).
- Sierra Grande School District R-30: Supports professional facilitation to develop rental and regulatory guidelines for the district’s new educator housing project (Costilla).
- Weld County School District Re-3J: Supports feasibility work to further explore the district’s housing and childcare initiative, including facilitation, community sessions, financial modeling, and communications materials (Weld).
- Chaffee County Community Foundation: Bolsters CCCF’s Safety Net Leaders Group, which convenes leaders working in key social services, through skilled facilitation, capturing shared data, and strategy work to identify service gaps. (Chaffee)
- Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation: Funds the hosting of rural regional roundtables through Mind Our Future, a youth mental health statewide initiative, to gain community input on the state of youth mental health (Statewide).
- Colorado Mountain College (CMC) Foundation: Supports rural employer engagement for earn-and-learn apprenticeship pathways through professional facilitation and convening design, employer outreach coordination, materials, and follow-up. (Garfield)
- Colorado Water Trust: Assists the strategic planning process to develop a conservation finance strategy, including stakeholder engagement planning and strategic analysis, for a rural water conservation initiative (Statewide).
- Emergent Campus, INC: Funds the program design of a Fremont County Hackathon: The Community Solutions Sprint, which helps residents work together on shared priorities (Fremont).
- Gunnison Country Food Pantry: Supports strategic planning for social service partnerships which will expand community connections beyond food distribution. (Gunnison)
- Highwater Farm: Spurs the development of a new strategic plan to strengthen the organization’s work in rural youth development and community food access (Garfield).
- Montezuma Civic Hub: Assists with the cost of trained facilitators to host Montezuma County’s first Civic Assembly, training community members in replicable bridge-building skills (Montezuma).
- Outdoor Recreation Coalition of the Grand Valley: Funds stakeholder workshops and listening sessions, catalyzing community-to-community collaboration through a countywide outdoor recreation master plan (Mesa).
- Steamboat Reading, Inc. DBA The Next Page Learning Center: Supports technical assistance, staff training, data integration, and sustainability planning for a coordinated data system which will enable improved monitoring of the effectiveness of interventions to be shared across schools and programs (Routt).
- Steamboat Springs Chamber Foundation: Provides strategic support to launch the Routt to Home initiative, which lowers barriers to and creates practical pathways for home ownership and stable renting options (Routt).
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About the Boettcher Foundation:
The Boettcher Foundation believes in the promise of Colorado and the potential of Coloradans. We invest in people, programs, and organizations across the state to create a foundation for community building and transformational impact.
